Update:Disney has announced that the Festival of Fantasy Parade will debut at Magic Kingdom on Sunday, March 9th, 2014. Festival of Fantasy will be the afternoon parade and run through the park daily at 3pm.

In a small fashion show-style event on Monday morning held backstage at Magic Kingdom, media outlets got a sneak peek at a few of the new floats from the parade and a look at several of the new costumes designed by costume designer Mirena Rada and Disney’s Creative Costuming Graphic Artist Paul Jordan.

Take a look below at our photos and updates from the preview of Festival of Fantasy Parade and we’ll be sure to bring you full video and photos when the full parade debuts next month! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Festival of Fantasy Parade Floats

There were three Festival of Fantasy Parade floats on display backstage:

A hot air balloon float which will actually lead the parade with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and features a lot of details from the film Fantasia.

The Little Mermaid inspired float featuring animated fish and Sebastian leading the clam shell which will carry Ariel.

The Peter Pan, float which is one of the largest floats in the parade, features Capt. Hook’s ship atop a giant rainbow and a swinging anchor.

Festival of Fantasy Parade Costumes

After checking out the floats, we were treated to a fashion show (complete with commentary) of entertainment Cast Members showing off a selection of the new looks from the Festival of Fantasy Parade. All of the costume designs are extremely visual – just like the floats – and will definitely look amazing going through Magic Kingdom.

These are the “Swan Court” costumes and will accompany the “Princess Garden” unit which will feature Belle and Beast, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Tiana and Naveen, and will mark the parade premiere of “Frozen’s” Anna and Elsa.

Thugs will appear alongside Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder on the Tangled float. The float is a representation of a longship and will resemble the ‘Snuggly Duckling’ pub from the film. Floral maiden dancers will also walk along the parade route with the float.

In what’s bound to be one of the more vibrant sections of the parade, The Little Mermaid float will be followed by a selection of sea-related costumes – including a large dramatic lionfish costume, a beautiful seashell girl costume, and two seahorse performers with rotating seahorse panels on their sides.

The ‘Lost Boys’ from Peter Pan will be large part of the film’s float. Their costumes are inspired in part by The Newsies, and will be seen as the Lost Boys run around the parade route.

The costumes that accompany the Brave float feature Scottish-inspired details and a lot of Tartan pattern that is also seen in the bagpipe-shaped float with Merida and her three little brothers – in bear form.

Last month got a peek at the incredibly impressive dragon Maleficent, but today we learned that it would be breathing smoke and fire along the parade route! Accompanying the float will be Prince Phillip as he battles his way through the thorn bushes and the ravens. Thorn stilt-walkers will be walking along the route and are reminiscent of DeVine from Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The raven costumes are also just as impressive and feature a wingspan of 12 feet.

Finally, we got to see a couple of the finale performers – including ‘Bubbles Girl’ and ‘Cha Cha Bingo Girl’ – which are inspired by Fanstasyland and Storybook Circus. They accompany a float that will feature the signature Disney characters including Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Daisy to end the parade.

Well that’s it for our preview of Festival of Fantasy Parade! Be sure to stay tuned for updates on the new parade and photo and video updates as it debuts next month – be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

I'm the Assistant Webmaster and Designer for The DIS and the Associate Producer for The DIS Unplugged podcast. I've lived in Florida for almost three years after graduating from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania in 2010. I am a former Walt Disney World Cast Member and spent almost four years on Main Street U.S.A.

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Megan Goodwin

I have two girls and I know they will love this parade! But I feel that Disney is polarizing the young boys that will be there, from what I have heard is this really going to be a parade that boys will be into?

Philip Schoen

I would think they would at least be into part of it … the steam-punk style dragon from the Sleeping Beauty float and the thorn walker and raven from there definitely seems “boyish”. Not to mention Captain Hook and a pirate ship plus the Lost Boys … I think it is a nice blend

Megan Goodwin

This is a good point I guess I got tied up in the “Fantasyland Land” theme I just wonder if there are more things geared to girls than there are to boys. Anyway I can’t wait to see it, I will be down next Sept and am excited to see what this will be like!

Nancy Fornett DeMark

How long is this parade running? We are planning on attending in October and my 3 yr old is all princess!

kim

How long does it take the parade to run? Trying to book a dinner reservation that will work such that we can view the parade as well as the 9:00 pm fireworks.